Process of reclaiming rubber waste materials



Patented July 27, 1943 mired- TA ES poration of New York 1 Claim (01. zso vin I is nvention e ates. to a m thod of ecla ming r ene a ng rubbe Waste and to ubbe comp s t ns roduced by the said me hod In, th p esses hithertb'knc n h h tempera.- tures' of sometim s'as h h as'200 to 2 C a empl yed in] order to. o tain conomi'cal'result However, the t s obta ned'p' fodu ts, have very poor mechanical properties due to partialmo lecular destruction caused by the high temperature;

Apart from the above specified drawbacks the high temperature processes create malodor in the reclaiming plants which greatly inconveniences the neighborhood, Th products obtained by the high temperature processes are mechanically s0 inferior and particularly have such a low strength that rubber must be. added to produce a practically usable composition.

However, in spite of the high temperature a uniform depolymerisation of the rubber waste is not obtained owing to the fact that the waste is collected from different sources and, therefore, materials of difierent composition are treated in the same batch.

Even motor car tires from the same manufacture and of the same grade subjected for an equal period to known reclaiming treatment show a different degree of depolymerisation. This difliculty is increased by the presence of plastifying substances and the varying degree of vulcanization of the material under treatment. Consequently at the end of the reclaiming process a comparatively small portion has been depolymerized to the proper degree which, therefore, possesses high mechanical properties, another portion has been depolymerized too far and has lost its strength and coherence and the remaining portion not having been sufficiently depolymerized hardly shows any sign of regeneration. This portion appears in the reclaimed product in the form of small lumps and makes it unsuitable for many applications.

In order to equalize the various degrees of depolymerisation and to remove the non depolymerized portions extensive and time-consuming refining processes are required. Th non-polymerized portions must be collected at the circumierence of the refining rolls and removed from the reclaimed portion. In many cases the percentage of the non depolymerized portion is as high as 25%.

The refining processes are very expensive due to the high costs of the machinery needed, due to high power consumption, due to high maintenance costs and low efliciency. Besides, the exessive ction xtremist the m t as a the Watmg7maehifiey d c s; the s anemones material. j I V V I risih d iect the inv te to o 'ivi t fti Y me 'mgefie t ofthe' hi Waste eclaimingrnethods It it? i ifthpci; objector the ru ber Waste-Within i dciiapprcxima ely 3 a v a prisingly lowjtemperature lying arbeneath the melting point and lower than the'vulcaniz'ation temperature of therubber waste into a uniformly depolymerized material which may be easily vulcanised.

It may be another object of the invention to eliminate the hitherto customary expensive and time consuming refining processes.

It is'a-further important object of the invention to preserve the mechanical properties and particularly the original strength of the waste m re ra e rubberwat a much higher degree thanthis has been hitherto possible.-

With these and other objects in view the ground rubber .waste is intimately contacted with abietic acid or sylvicacid, or substances containing the same, in the absence of water or steam while maintaining a temperature of between to.

400 C. l 1 The application of abieti'c acid, coloph'ony and similar substances is known in the manufacture of waterproof insulating viscous rubber compositions. However, in the case of the knownprocesses, rubber of any kind isheated with the said substances to high temperatures whereby the rubber is molten. In other words, it is-a Significant feature of the known processes to melt the rubber together with the co1oph0ny,-0r the fatty oils or bituminous substances, or hydrocarbons,

Abietic acid may advantageously'be added at a rate of approximately 1 to 5% of the rubber. It is a surprising result that when the resins are used within the range of these low temperatures the mechanical properties of the rubber molecules are fully preserved and that Within a short period a uniformly depolymerized material is obtained which may be directlyv used without refin 'PROCESSOF BEQLAIMING RUBBER-WASTE P MATERIALS A giolo TIeVesfNcW York, N, Ya yarssig'nori y mesne assignmentsgto Rubber & Plastics Com pound Gompany, .Inc., New Xorlr, N. 1 a'coring steps in admixture with or without rubber for all the purposes for which reclaimed rubber is employed.

It has also been suggested to reclaim mixtures of rubber wasteand bitumen, pine oil and other softeners by heating) the same to; a temperature of about 150 C. However, in'this'case water is added producing steam at the treating tem- In the present process due to the short dura-.

tion and the low treating temperature cooling may be eliminated while in the hitherto customary reclaiming methods such cooling is essential and in some cases requires a time which may last longer than the reclaiming process.

' This constitutes a further important advantage H of the invention. Moreover, owing to the short perature. Consequently, the working conditions I are entirely difierent from those of the present method and therefore the known process has no bearing on the invention.

In the following an example is specifi ed forv carrying out the present method.

Waste automobile tires are ground in a suitable grinder to particle size of 12 to 15 mesh/sq. inch.

duration and to the low temperature white or slightly colored rubber waste materials do not los'e their original color. Due to the low treating temperature no malodor is' produced and the plant which requires a small area evenrfor a considerable production The ground material is charged intoa treating 9 vessel provided with a mixing blade equipment. v 3.5% by weight of the rubber contents of the Y charge of powdered abietic acid are added. The vessel isfh'e'ated to, aboutfiem Cj'and the 'mixing equipment is set into motion. The solid ground rubber waste particles are intimately contacted with thefabietic acid. The treatment is maintained for a period of about 30 minutes.

'I 'he reclaimed material is removed from the treating vessel/1t is in a condition to be used immediatelyfit may added directly to'arubber mentgi batch without being subjected is. a. refiz iing treat-.

may be erected at any place. No autoclaves, no

electric equipment and no high pressure steam generators are required as used in many existing 'ANGIOLO 'rnnvns. 

